Hi Julie,

I know how worried you must be but please try not to fixate on how long you've left it. IF it's malignant (and that's a large IF) it doesn't mean it's been so for that long. Moles start out benign and then turn cancerous so it may only have changed recently. 

75% of patients referred to dermatology receive a clean bill of health so the odds are good that your mole is benign or dysplastic (precancerous). Failing that, if it's malignant there's a good chance it's still been caught early so it's not as bleak as you fear.

The worst part of all this is the waiting. You will have a few weeks waiting for the results once it's been removed so I suggest you find ways to distract yourself to ease the anxiety.

Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

Hi Julie,

I know how worried you must be but please try not to fixate on how long you've left it. IF it's malignant (and that's a large IF) it doesn't mean it's been so for that long. Moles start out benign and then turn cancerous so it may only have changed recently. 

75% of patients referred to dermatology receive a clean bill of health so the odds are good that your mole is benign or dysplastic (precancerous). Failing that, if it's malignant there's a good chance it's still been caught early so it's not as bleak as you fear.

The worst part of all this is the waiting. You will have a few weeks waiting for the results once it's been removed so I suggest you find ways to distract yourself to ease the anxiety.

Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

Thank you so much for your reply I really appreciate it.

I didn't even counter in the fact I would have to wait for results too, this is awful it's all I can think about and it's only been a day